posted
Yes. I'm selling my first and beloved truck. I was hoping Hatrack could give me some advice both on selling her, and coping with the loss.
I'm moving to Prague in 6 weeks, and I'm not going to be needing her anymore, so it's time to really say goodbye. That and I'll be needing the money.
Some background: It's a 2002 Ford Ranger 4x4, 3.0 Liter, extended cab (that's with the two half doors and smaller seats in the back). Black. CD Player, Tape deck, stepside, Flexfuel tank (runs on Gas or Ethanol fuel).
Anyway, Kelly Blue book calculates the value at around 8500, if I put some work in cleaning it up and getting the interior detailed, which I'll do. It's in great mechanical condition, has 70,000 miles on it. It gets about 20 miles to the gallon, and is relatively light for a truck.
So my question is, where would you start with selling this kind of car, and how much would you ask for it? There are listing on autotrader and Ebay Autos that are asking 12,000 for similar models, but I can never tell exactly what the different features are. Is it worth paying for an add on autotrader, or should I stick with ebay? How long do you think it might take to sell?
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
Put a "make me an offer" ad on Craigslist - the ad will be free - and see what kind of offers come in. You'll get a better response if you include all the details you can think of and put plenty of clear pictures on line. You might get lucky and get a good offer.
eBay will cost about $90 to sell your truck ($40 up front, $50 if it sells). eBay moves a lot of vehicles but not every vehicle sells. Factors that will help you sell quickly on eBay: 1. Lots of clear, detailed description and photos 2. Good feedback rating with past sales 3. Low starting price to attract attention 4. Reserve price, if any, is below book value. 5. Shipping available - eBay has links to shipping contractors you could use. Could add significant hassle, but also might expand your buyer pool significantly.
If you can't meet all of the above conditions you might find it difficult to sell your vehicle on eBay - or it might sell readily anyway. If you haven't checked past sales yet then I recommend you do so. There should be a box you can check on the search function to look at completed listings.
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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Trucks sell for a relatively high resale amount....I had GREAT luck selling my old truck years ago just in the local paper.
I would mention the fact that it gets fairly good gas mileage in the ad though....a lot of people are trying to get rid of their trucks now because the high price of gas.
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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This is weird, but the car dealership where we bought the car sent my dad a letter today with an offer to buy back the car with an appraisal.
I realize I might not get the price I would get from a private buyer, but this is billed as a special "vip" event for loyal customers (my dad has bout 5 cars from them).
I'm going to have them appraise it and if it's anywhere near the kelly blue book value, I'll sell it to them just to avoid the heaache. Yay. Maybe.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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Well, just keep in mind the dealer exists to make money by buying low and selling high.
If you go that route at least do yourself a favor and get a second quote from another dealer. If you have a Carmax in your area, I'd check with them. (They have a policy of paying the same for trades whether you're buying a car or not - and while they still exist to make money by dealing with you, at least you don't have to wonder if they're making an especially nice margin on you.)
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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Well, the dealer in question has been our dealer for many many years, not that that carries much water.
I spoke with the rep today and he assured me that the price they offer is the same as a trade in value would be, and that they would offer "market price," but that it was negotiable. I looked up the Kelly Blue book, and I will decide in advance on my minimum price, and I'll see what they have to say.
Yeah, I know the issue is that the dealer is looking to make a margin, but to a certain extent, I willing to allow them that margin for the convenience and security that it would afford. Granted the offer is not WAY low, I will probably take the deal and be happy.
The Bluebook says 8500. Should that be my minimum? Should I avoid saying any numbers whatsoever before they say numbers? They claim to have a whole system that they use to generate the quote, so apparantly they make the opening offer.
Is it crazy to ask for over bluebook price? Should I shoot high?
If they offer me over bluebook, should I then counter with something higher, and how much?
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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They will probably offer trade-in book value which is lower than private party resale book value, and lower yet than retail book value. You should have both the trade in value and private party resale value in mind when you go in, and shoot for something in the middle of the two - and plan on realistically getting an offer close to or below the trade in book value. They probably will deduct for things like worn tires and any dents or other cosmetic damage.
Shooting high won't hurt, but they don't *need* this truck so it probably won't get you far. They will probably only have a little flexibility on what they pay you (less flexibility than if you were buying a vehicle and using the trade in value as your main point of negotiation). Still, I encourage you to do as much negotiation as you have the constitution for.
I completely understand your preference for convenience and dealing with a known entity. I'm much the same way. However, let's pretend we're both willing to go to some effort to get a little more money out of it. If they make you a written offer that's good for, say, seven days, then you should walk away with the offer and put the truck up for sale for $1-2k more than that - if you get a buyer before the offer expires, great. If you don't, you go take the offer. (At least then you don't have to wonder whether you could very easily have gotten a better deal.)
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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If there is a CarMax in your area make sure to stop in and see what they offer as well. They have a reputation in Orlando for being more than fair, and offer it in cash (not just as a trade-in).
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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ok, I've never heard of carmax. I'll have to see about it.
SCifi, thanks for the advice, I'll keep it in mind. They do *claim* that this buy-back event features trade-in value on your car, but I don't know for sure.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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Yeah...Carmax is famous for dealing fair, and offering cash even if you aren't buying another car from them. I know a lot fo people who actually felt they were offered too much for their cars...although oddly enough they didn't refuse the extra cash. Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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I've already decided my next dealer purchase of a new-ish car will be from CarMax. They sell at an openly advertised, non-negotiable retail price. In other words, their margin is fixed and fair. No taking advantage of suckers.
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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There's a carmax in SF I'll go to on wednesday afternoon, then I'll take that quote with me and see if the dealer does better.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Originally posted by scifibum: I've already decided my next dealer purchase of a new-ish car will be from CarMax. They sell at an openly advertised, non-negotiable retail price. In other words, their margin is fixed and fair. No taking advantage of suckers.
When I was car shopping Carmax had several cars listed above the Kelly Blue book price!
Posts: 176 | Registered: Jun 2008
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quote:Originally posted by scifibum: I've already decided my next dealer purchase of a new-ish car will be from CarMax. They sell at an openly advertised, non-negotiable retail price. In other words, their margin is fixed and fair. No taking advantage of suckers.
When I was car shopping Carmax had several cars listed above the Kelly Blue book price!
It depends on what price you were looking at in the book. There is usually a dealer/trade in price and another, higher price based on a private sale.
I know people who work there, and they pretty much use the blue book value....keep in mind things like condition and mileage cause variations in price...both up and down...as well.
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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They're going to pay attention to supply and demand too. If they can't keep Mustangs in stock, they're gonna raise the local price a little.
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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I seem to remember you buying that truck, Orincoro. Or at least a discussion about it.
I had Carmax look at my 2002 Nissan Frontier pickup when I was selling it, but they were only offering $3,000 for it (KBB was $6,000). I ended up selling it for $5000 - I probably could have got more, but timing was important, and I did have high miles on it. FWIW
You probably will get the most by going private-party sale. But that depends on how much time you have to mess with it. And what the demand is in your are for small trucks (demand for those is usually always high in our area).
Posts: 9538 | Registered: Aug 2003
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Well, the dealer made a ridiculous low-ball offer of 4,000, without even lookig at the car. He poited to a carfax report of a fender-bender with minor damage from before I even bought the car, which was never disclosed to me by the dealer (same dealer).
SO. I am either going to sell it privately or take whatever carmax offers by the time I leave. I will never go back to that dealer again. I walked in ad had to talk to about 5 people, each time someone came around it was a differet person, and they kept trying to get me to say how much I hoped to get for the car, so it was a unpleasant experience.
That and they kept trying me to get me to talk about a trade-in when I had explicitly told them over the phone, then in person, that I am moving to Europe and will not be buying a car from them or from anyoe, period. Can't imagine that helped me though.
posted
I more or less expected that the dealer experience would be frustrating and disappointing, but was hoping you'd beat the odds. Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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what really annoyed me was that I was personally invited, over the phone, to come and have the car inspected by the dealer for buy-back.
I got there, and they didn't inspect the vehicle at all, but ran a carfax report on it, and made me the low-ball offer based on a fender bender, which clearly had no long term effects, as the car has gone 50 thousand miles for me without one mechanical glitch. The dealer said that the accident lowered the resale value, but his reasoning was totally unclear. It sounded like the resale value might go down a thousand dollars, to 7 thousand, but that he was now only willing to pay 4. I knew that there was no way he was going to turn around and sell that car for anywhere near 4. It would go for closer to 8, and if someone DID point to the carfax, he would use the same logic I did, that an inspection showed it to be mechanically sound.
I'm not particularly phased by the idea that my car was in a "front end collision with minor damage reported." Although I'm a little ticked that the car was sold to me without this disclosed.
So I drove to the dealership to not have the car inspected at all, and be taken for a complete moron. I wanted to stop the guy and say: "this could have been done over the phone, and I'm insulted to think that you sought me out to try this."
Of course, I just walked out and drove away.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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If they make you a written offer that's good for, say, seven days, then you should walk away with the offer and put the truck up for sale for $1-2k more than that - if you get a buyer before the offer expires, great. If you don't, you go take the offer. (At least then you don't have to wonder whether you could very easily have gotten a better deal.)
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Or at least a discussion about it.
